Please LEVY a MAXIMUM FINE against University of Colorrado, Denver, for
their blatant disregard of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) which injured cats,
guinea pigs & a rabbit. Their behavior must NOT be tolerated & MUST be
punished to the fullest extent of the law.

A watchdog group has filed a complaint against the University of Colorado
Denver/ Anschutz Medical Campus claiming the university "negligently abused
a number of animals."

The group, Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), said in a news release
that its complaint, filed Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Agriculture ,
alleges the university violated the Animal Welfare Act. The allegations are
based on documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The documents include correspondence between the university and the
National Institute of Health's animal welfare office describing three
incidents that happened between January 2015 to January 2016.

According to the documents, the Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committee at the university received a report in 2015 of an incident
involving three guinea pigs who suffered bone fractures, and were
subsequently euthanized.

A year later, a similar report was made by the committee on an incident
involving two rabbits, one of which was euthanized after escaping from its
pen and fracturing a leg.

Also, a March 2015 report outlined an incident involving four cats "found
to be depressed and hypersalivating" and with oral ulcerations found to be
caused by ingesting a "quaternary ammonium cleaning agent."

In their complaint to the USDA, SAEN said that "fully trained and
qualified personnel would not have allowed cats to gain access to
potentially toxic chemicals."

"University of Colorado administration allowed animals to be
unnecessarily injured due to negligence by facility staff," said Michael
Budkie, executive director of SAEN in the release. "CU deserves a major
federal fine for carelessly killing and injuring animals."

In each of the three reported incidents, the documents show that after
consulting with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare it was determined
that no further action was required.

In a statement , the university said SAEN used "inaccurate information and
misrepresents the conditions of the animal reserach facilities" at the
university.

The university also said the documents show they independently reported the
incidents to the National Institute of Health's Office of Laboratory Animal
Welfare, as well as to the USDA, and that no formal citations had been
issued.

"The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus scientists adhere
to all federal and state laws, regulations, and guidelines established by
the federal government, awarding agencies, and professional groups to
protect research animals. All animal research is subject to multiple reviews
internally and externally and is fully authorized and monitored by the
federal government," according to the statement.

In the complaint to the USDA, SAER asked for "the most severe action
allowable under the Animal Welfare Act" with the maximum fine — $10,000 per
infraction, per animal — to begin immediately.

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